Aurora
by AcaciaDawn105
Summary: "We Guardians are all chosen for a reason. We are the protectors of Childhood." A new Guardian has been chosen, and Jack doesn't know what to do. It seems like whenever she sees him, she instantly turns hostile. And what is this new threat that the Man in the Moon has warned them about?
1. Chapter 1

_**Ch. 1~ Awakening**_

Once upon a time, there was a house in the woods. Within this house, a family lived happily. A mother and father, with their mischievous young twin boys, and their older, pensive daughter. This daughter of theirs was odd, odder than most girls her age. Instead of obsessing over boys, like the girls in the town at the edge of the forest, this girl would spend her days simply sitting outside. To her eyes and ears, the world around her was more appealing than any boy. She loved the outdoors, only staying in when the air became chilled and the ground was covered in snow. Though the frozen world was beautiful, she didn't exactly like the cold.

It was a warm summer night, and she was lying in her favorite tree nook. This was a place where she could star at the stars until the wee hours of the morning. On this particular night, the full moon hung fat and low in the sky, smiling at her gently. For some reason, she felt close to the moon, more so than usual.

Suddenly, she heard cries, smelt the acrid smoke. Shooting to her feet, she saw her home on fire. Her eyes widened, and she hurried to get down and began racing towards the house. She could hear her parents banging on the door, trying to get out.

"Mama! Father!" She pushed the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Listen to me! You have to back away from the door! I'm going to try to get it open!" Despite her shoelessness, she started kicking the door until it gave under her foot. She ran in and grabbed her mother, father, and Tommy, the older twin. Pulling them outside into the cool night air, she looked around. "Where's Timmy?"

Her father managed to get a breath. "We don't know. The last time I saw him, he was on the way to his room." Without a second thought, she turned back around, only to be grabbed. "What are you doing?!"

"I have to get him out."

"You can't go in there!" her mother cried.

"Do you want your youngest child to die frightened and alone?" She didn't give her time to answer. She broke away and burst inside. "Timmy! Timmy, where are you?!"

"Help me!" the scream came from the boys' room

She made her way down the hall, trying to keep low, under the smoke. Timmy's door shuddered as he pounded on it. For whatever reason, his door had always been thinner and weaker than any other in the house. He often complained that he (though he was small) could break it in one hit if he wanted to. It made her cross a lot of the time, since she was used to closing her door, which was thick and heavy. Bracing her shoulder against it, she started pushing. _Come on. Come _on_!_ She backed up and ran at the door. It gave, Timmy falling in her arms. She reached behind him and grabbed his blanket, wrapping it around him, picked him up and ran back to the front of the house. They were nearly there when she stepped on a burning tile, tripped and twisted…_no, breaking,_ her mind told her when she heard the snap, her ankle.

"Sissy!" Timmy started pulling her.

"Mama, Father, get him out of here!" She pushed him towards the door, trying to get up. Somehow, she managed to raise herself up, her father's slightly scorched staff that was on the floor, and started hobbling on one foot. _Almost there, just a few more feet._ She had her father's hand, he was about to pull her out…when the unthinkable happened. The support beam fell from the ceiling, burning, on top of her. Along with it, the whole shingle roof caved in. The beam had handed against the left side of her body, where she would have sported life-long scars if she had lived.

Outside, she could hear her family screaming. _At least they're all safe,_ she thought, her brain turning foggy with smoke. It took every ounce of her will not to scream as the flames licked away at her skin. Slowly…ever so slowly, she felt the heat stealing away her breath. Through the smoke, she could see the fat, sorrowful moon weeping silent tears over her. Yet…he seemed happy.

Wait, he? Since when had she ever thought of the Moon as male? Well, whatever the reason, it didn't really matter now. As her last breath eased out, she heard the voice that had guided her always. Her eyes slid closed.

_Aurora_, he whispered.

It seemed like an eternity, an eternity of burning pain. For a while, she thought it was Hell. But if it was, where were the cries of anguish, the smell of burning flesh and brimstone? Well, there was an odd smell, though more like _healing_. In the back of her mind, she could hear a voice. There were no words, only a vague sense of the general idea. Slowly, the pain began to recede, and with it, the memories of what had passed.

It was dark, warm. The grass beneath her bare skin was cooling the dull ache within her bones. Even though it was night, just the light of the Moon and Stars was enough to cause her to clamp her eyes shut in pain. How could it be so dark, yet be so bright? Once she had adjusted, she laid there, just staring at the Moon, wondering about why she was there.

The whispers grew louder, more distinct. Then she realized…they weren't in her head. They were actually far above her, in the sky. The Moon was talking to her. What her name was, that she was now _borne_. At the time, she didn't really know what he meant, only knew that something was missing. But, you can't argue with the Man in the Moon, for he knows all, sees all. All she could do was accept her fate and resign herself to better the knowledge of her surroundings. Despite the pain, which had grown somewhat more insistant, she managed to sit up. She was in the middle of a clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees. Something about the area tugged at her heartstrings. A few yards from her, evidence of a long ago fire remained.

_What is this place?_

It took standing up for her to realize that something was very wrong. Her side began to burn, crippling her briefly. That's when she saw her clothes. Her shorts, brown with green threading, her shirt, red with yellow and blue. Her shirt barely met the bottom of her ribs, with a halter strap around her neck. Beneath that, she saw a large, puckered scar running down her side and part of her leg. By the light of the Moon, she saw the darkened skin on her arm. They looked like old wounds, burns. After this, the pain was gone, even though it would come back every once in a while. In time, she learned to deal with the pain, and the blanks that came when she thought about time before being _borne_.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ch. 2~ Returning**_

_He's at it again_. Bunny thought as he tried to hide his eggs through the snowfall. It was snowing harder now as the laughing jackal flew overhead again. "Rack off, ya bloody show-pony!" he yelled up to Jack Frost.

"Aw, c'mon, Bunny. Lighten up. Learn to have a little fun." The winter spirit landed on a tree branch, leaning his staff on his knee.

"I've gotta job to do, and, as always, you're messing it up."

"Snow makes the hunt more interesting," Jack whined.

"Ya mean more deadly. Ya do realize that you can make the little ankle-biters sick doing that?"

As if on cue, a warm wind started blowing from the south. With it came the scent of blooming flowers. It blew away the snowflakes and melted the ones on the ground.

"What the…" Jack dropped to the ground.

"Oh, for the love of springtime. Thanks!" Bunny yelled into the air.

"Who are you talking to? What just happened?"

"Mother Nature takin' care of me. Apparently she's none too happy with ya messing with me either."

"Mother Nature?"

"Anyway, if ya ain't got anythin' better to do, why don't ya go make sure the googies make it to the sites?"

"Fine, I guess, this _one_ time," he said sarcastically.

"And don't you _dare_ freeze 'em, or I'll make sure to ask for a warm front."

Not half an hour later, as Jack supervised an egg hunt, the Northern lights lit up. Something was wrong. Giving up on the light snowfall he'd conjured, he shot off towards the Pole. Upon arriving, Baby Tooth flew up to him and snuggled against his neck. Jack laughed and petted the tiny Tooth Fairy.

"Jack, oh, it's good to see you." Toothiana came flittering over to him. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue. Shouldn't North be telling us that?"

The big man clapped him on the back, letting out a hearty laugh, "Right you are," he said with his thick Russian accent. "Manny has recently brought something to my attention." North looked around. "Where is Bunny?"

"North, it's Easter. He's out doing his job." Toothiana told him. "We'll fill him in later. Now, what's Manny told you?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. There must be something big on the way, because Manny has decided on a new Guardian."

"Whaddya mean 'new Guardian'?" Bunny walked in. "Googies are all in place, and I need to be here." Jack briefly noticed Bunny limping as he hopped to the fire. Cold feet. "Anyway, has he told ya who yet?"

"Not yet. He was waiting for all of us to be here. Eh, Manny?" he called up to the sky. Man in the Moon aimed his rays at the Guardian's symbol on the floor. Sandman started making pictures over his head, asking what it was all about. There was a wolf shadow on the floor. A sudden howl tore through the air, shaking them.

Bunny shivered. "Oh no, not again."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"The very essence of fear, a minion of Pitch." Tooth explained. "If he's coming out, it's only a matter of time before the other do too." The Moon's beams became more focused, pulling up the Guardian's Crystal. The Crystal itself was making strange images. Roses, trees, moon, sun, stars. Sandy's images made question marks, then other symbols that Jack couldn't understand.

"Is it Cupid?" Tooth asked.

"Can't be," Bunny said, "he's not a Guardian of Childhood."

The Moonbeam finally began to take the shape of a person. The figure was wrapped up in a rose vine, her hair blowing around her head like a halo. In her hand, an engraved staff worn smooth. She wore shorts with thigh high socks and soft boots. Her shirt's sleeves were long and flowy, the right side hanging off her shoulder, and the other arm wrapped up in a form fitted sleeve under the loose one. Her face was one of pure calm, with a warm smile and soft eyes.

"Aurora Natura?" North's face showed uncertainty.

"Who?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

They all turned to him. Toothiana fluttered to him. "Jack…you don't know who Aurora is?" He shook his head. She guided him to the Crystal. "Look at her. What do you see?"

He studied the image for a moment. "Flowers…wind…warmth?"

"Exactly!" North whooped. "Phil, Tom, would you mind going and fetching Madame Natura? And be gentle with her. You know how she is. Don't use the sack!" Phil garbled at him, sounding something along the lines of "Yeah, yeah."

Tooth flittered forward. "North, let me go talk to her. You know how she is, she'll come along easier if we have a little girl chat first."


End file.
